The petition - started by Hollie Flynn - looks set to fail, despite gaining 130,215 signatures on change.org.

A PETITION calling for Madeleine McCann’s parents to be prosecuted for child neglect is today being dismissed as “pure bile” by the couple’s pals.

The attempt by Hollie Flynn to cause more anguish to Kate and Gerry looks set to fail, despite gaining 130,215 signatures on petition site change.org.

In the petition she complains Kate and Gerry “left three unattended children” in a holiday apartment in Portugal’s Praia da Luz “while they went off to enjoy a night out", stressing: "This is neglect."

It urges: “Please sign this petition to help bring down the McCann’s for neglect that has led to the 'disappearance' of Madeleine McCann.”

A close friend of ex GP Kate, 49, and heart doctor Gerry, 48, who face the painful tenth anniversary of their daughter’s disappearance in five weeks, told The Sun Online: “It is just another cruel and pointless rant against Madeleine’s parents and is pure bile. Social media has been chuntering on about them for weeks. It is all nonsense.”

The petition has not even been posted on the official Parliamentary website and is a carbon copy of one previously submitted to MPs for possible debate.

UK-based instigator Hollie declares she is “Petitioning Prime Minister of the UK Theresa May", but the source pointed out: “It’s not even been placed on the site where it could be considered for discussion even though it has got enough signatures. It seems people are only signing it because they think it’s the official website.”

Three-year-old Maddie vanished from her bed after being left alone with twin siblings Sean and Amelie, 27, months, while her parents dined in a nearby tapas bar with pals in 2007.

Among signatories are Colin Smith from Croydon, South London, who says: "I’m signing because I am a father to 2 boys aged 9 and 7 and I wouldn't leave them alone. To leave a 3 year old to babysit two 2 year olds is completely disgusting and has to be a criminal offence. Please make justice happen."

Julie Hill from Leicester adds: “If they were average people they would have been slated for leaving them alone."

A similar petition urging Maddie’s parents to face child neglect charges was submitted at some point during the 2010–2015 Conservative – Liberal Democrat coalition Government.

A note on the official petitions website states: “This petition has been archived.”

It says the petition was rejected as this is a "police operational matter".

It adds: “Petitions cannot be used to request action on issues that are outside the responsibility of the Government."

The Sun Online recently told how Kate and Gerry would have “fought tooth and nail” if they had ever been prosecuted for abandoning the young trio.

A McCann source said: “They were well aware they could have been charged with child neglect and naturally very concerned. But in legal terms they were doing everything well within the bounds of respectable parenting.”

The source insists: “Any legal action against them would have failed. A court would have to show Kate and Gerry had wilfully neglected their daughter and her siblings, and they did not. They would have robustly defended any charges, if brought.”The couple could have faced jail under Portuguese law if they had ever faced a charge of abandonment and been convicted.